Whatever You Say I Am_ The Life and Times of Eminem - Anthony Bozza [29]
Eminem laughs both with and at himself, as well as at popular media and anyone else who doesn’t get the joke. His humor is part of an arsenal that allows him to subvert popular culture while being a card-carrying member of the mainstream, a stance that stands out in rap and pop music as much as his consistently singsong melodies and unique, pent-up delivery does on the radio. Eminem thrives amid opposition, uniting hummable hooks and blunt lyrics, enticing his now very diverse fan base into off-color sing-alongs. Take the misogynistic bridge of The Eminem Show’s “Superman” (“I do know one thing though / Bitches they come, they go”) or his update of Sex Pistols creator Malcom McClaren’s hit, “Buffalow Gals,” echoed in the introduction to The Eminem Show’s “Without Me” (“Two trailer park girls go round the outside, round the outside, round the outside”); such phrases are wed to refrains as G-rated as a Barney song and as tough to purge once heard. Eminem’s knowing smirk shines through his harshest moments, which include their own disavowals. The antiwomen assertions of “Kill You” (The Marshall Mathers LP) and the anti-American society rant of “White America” (The Eminem Show) contain spoken “just kidding” conclusions. “Kim” and “97 Bonnie and Clyde,” Eminem’s murder ballads to his wife, Kim, contain no clear indication of parody, but for their contrast to reality: Despite years of fighting, a marriage, a divorce, a suicide attempt, a custody battle, and the birth of another man’s daughter, Eminem and Kim are still connected beyond the bond of their own daughter, Hailie.
If there is one song that makes Eminem’s point once and for all, it is the final song on The Marshall Mathers LP, “Criminal.” Over a grooving chorus, Eminem says that every time he says what’s on his mind, each rhyme of his is seen as a criminal act. The verses of that song lay out Eminem’s key to success in hilarious lines, telling his mother, preachers, and teachers that they can’t reach him because he learns everything he needs to know from cable television. Imitating a televangelist (in the voice of Mr. Mackey, the South Park elementary-school teacher) who asks the Lord for a prostitute, new car, and the healing of Eminem’s soul, Eminem raps that he won’t be ignored because his blond hair, blue eyes, and pointy nose can’t be missed. To reinforce the point, the song begins with a spoken introduction in which Eminem warns listeners who believe he is as dangerous as his lyrics that they should be very, very afraid, because that means they believe that Eminem really is going to kill them. He inverts the expectations that rappers and musicians must live by the word of their art, turning the critique back on the audience that expects this to happen, while feeding their interest by his pointed mixture of fact and fiction, seriousness and sensation.
Without the ironic twists, Eminem’s music would have no message. It would be the rap equivalent of the one-dimensionally macho comedy of late ’80s goombah Andrew Dice Clay, whose misogynistic brags grew nothing but tiresome. Unlike Eminem, Andrew Dice Clay was banned for life from MTV for foul language during a presentation at 1992’s Video Music Awards. Maybe Clay is the true rebel, playing his image against the world without compromise, even to his disadvantage. Maybe Eminem is just a huckster, changing costumes to suit the occasion, donning his joke side to hit big on pop radio and his hardcore stance to maintain his credibility, playing the two sides off